Towards Understanding the Quran

From: http://www.islamicstudies.info/tafheem.php?sura=19&verse=16&to=40

With kind permission: Islamic Foundation UK
English ◄ Chapter 19. Maryam ► Intro. ◄ Verse 16-40 of 98 ► View Ar En Nt ► █ Font Email
وَاذۡكُرۡ فِىۡ الۡـكِتٰبِ مَرۡيَمَ‌ۘ اِذِ انتَبَذَتۡ مِنۡ اَهۡلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرۡقِيًّاۙ‏ ﴿19:16﴾ فَاتَّخَذَتۡ مِنۡ دُوۡنِهِمۡ حِجَابًا فَاَرۡسَلۡنَاۤ اِلَيۡهَا رُوۡحَنَا فَتَمَثَّلَ لَهَا بَشَرًا سَوِيًّا‏ ﴿19:17﴾ قَالَتۡ اِنِّىۡۤ اَعُوۡذُ بِالرَّحۡمٰنِ مِنۡكَ اِنۡ كُنۡتَ تَقِيًّا‏ ﴿19:18﴾ قَالَ اِنَّمَاۤ اَنَا رَسُوۡلُ رَبِّكِ‌ۖ لِاَهَبَ لَـكِ غُلٰمًا زَكِيًّا‏ ﴿19:19﴾ قَالَتۡ اَنّٰى يَكُوۡنُ لِىۡ غُلٰمٌ وَّلَمۡ يَمۡسَسۡنِىۡ بَشَرٌ وَّلَمۡ اَكُ بَغِيًّا‏ ﴿19:20﴾ قَالَ كَذٰلِكِ‌ۚ قَالَ رَبُّكِ هُوَ عَلَىَّ هَيِّنٌ‌ۚ وَّلِنَجۡعَلَهٗۤ اٰيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَرَحۡمَةً مِّنَّا‌ۚ وَكَانَ اَمۡرًا مَّقۡضِيًّا‏ ﴿19:21﴾ فَحَمَلَتۡهُ فَانتَبَذَتۡ بِهٖ مَكَانًا قَصِيًّا‏ ﴿19:22﴾ فَاَجَآءَهَا الۡمَخَاضُ اِلٰى جِذۡعِ النَّخۡلَةِ‌ۚ قَالَتۡ يٰلَيۡتَنِىۡ مِتُّ قَبۡلَ هٰذَا وَكُنۡتُ نَسۡيًا مَّنۡسِيًّا‏ ﴿19:23﴾ فَنَادٰٮهَا مِنۡ تَحۡتِهَاۤ اَلَّا تَحۡزَنِىۡ قَدۡ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحۡتَكِ سَرِيًّا‏ ﴿19:24﴾ وَهُزِّىۡۤ اِلَيۡكِ بِجِذۡعِ النَّخۡلَةِ تُسٰقِطۡ عَلَيۡكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا‏ ﴿19:25﴾ فَكُلِىۡ وَاشۡرَبِىۡ وَقَرِّىۡ عَيۡنًا‌ۚ فَاِمَّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ الۡبَشَرِ اَحَدًاۙ فَقُوۡلِىۡۤ اِنِّىۡ نَذَرۡتُ لِلرَّحۡمٰنِ صَوۡمًا فَلَنۡ اُكَلِّمَ الۡيَوۡمَ اِنۡسِيًّا‌ۚ‏ ﴿19:26﴾ فَاَتَتۡ بِهٖ قَوۡمَهَا تَحۡمِلُهٗ‌ؕ قَالُوۡا يٰمَرۡيَمُ لَقَدۡ جِئۡتِ شَيۡـًٔـا فَرِيًّا‏ ﴿19:27﴾ يٰۤاُخۡتَ هٰرُوۡنَ مَا كَانَ اَبُوۡكِ امۡرَاَ سَوۡءٍ وَّمَا كَانَتۡ اُمُّكِ بَغِيًّا‌ ۖ‌ۚ‏ ﴿19:28﴾ فَاَشَارَتۡ اِلَيۡهِ‌ؕ قَالُوۡا كَيۡفَ نُـكَلِّمُ مَنۡ كَانَ فِىۡ الۡمَهۡدِ صَبِيًّا‏ ﴿19:29﴾ قَالَ اِنِّىۡ عَبۡدُ اللّٰهِ ؕ اٰتٰٮنِىَ الۡكِتٰبَ وَجَعَلَنِىۡ نَبِيًّاۙ‏ ﴿19:30﴾ وَجَعَلَنِىۡ مُبَارَكًا اَيۡنَ مَا كُنۡتُ وَاَوۡصٰنِىۡ بِالصَّلٰوةِ وَالزَّكٰوةِ مَا دُمۡتُ حَيًّا‌ۖ‏ ﴿19:31﴾ وَّبَرًّا بِۢوٰلِدَتِىۡ وَلَمۡ يَجۡعَلۡنِىۡ جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا‏ ﴿19:32﴾ وَالسَّلٰمُ عَلَىَّ يَوۡمَ وُلِدْتُّ وَيَوۡمَ اَمُوۡتُ وَيَوۡمَ اُبۡعَثُ حَيًّا‏ ﴿19:33﴾ ذٰلِكَ عِيۡسَى ابۡنُ مَرۡيَمَ‌ؕ قَوۡلَ الۡحَـقِّ الَّذِىۡ فِيۡهِ يَمۡتَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿19:34﴾ مَا كَانَ لِلّٰهِ اَنۡ يَّتَّخِذَ مِنۡ وَّلَدٍ‌ۙ سُبۡحٰنَهٗ‌ؕ اِذَا قَضٰٓى اَمۡرًا فَاِنَّمَا يَقُوۡلُ لَهٗ كُنۡ فَيَكُوۡنُؕ‏ ﴿19:35﴾ وَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ رَبِّىۡ وَرَبُّكُمۡ فَاعۡبُدُوۡهُ‌ؕ هٰذَا صِرَاطٌ مُّسۡتَقِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿19:36﴾ فَاخۡتَلَفَ الۡاَحۡزَابُ مِنۡۢ بَيۡنِهِمۡ‌ۚ فَوَيۡلٌ لِّـلَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا مِنۡ مَّشۡهَدِ يَوۡمٍ عَظِيۡمٍ‏ ﴿19:37﴾ اَسۡمِعۡ بِهِمۡ وَاَبۡصِرۡۙ يَوۡمَ يَاۡتُوۡنَنَا‌ لٰـكِنِ الظّٰلِمُوۡنَ الۡيَوۡمَ فِىۡ ضَلٰلٍ مُّبِيۡنٍ‏ ﴿19:38﴾ وَاَنۡذِرۡهُمۡ يَوۡمَ الۡحَسۡرَةِ اِذۡ قُضِىَ الۡاَمۡرُ‌‌ۘ وَهُمۡ فِىۡ غَفۡلَةٍ وَّهُمۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ‏ ﴿19:39﴾ اِنَّا نَحۡنُ نَرِثُ الۡاَرۡضَ وَمَنۡ عَلَيۡهَا وَاِلَـيۡنَا يُرۡجَعُوۡنَ‏ ﴿19:40﴾

(19:16) (O Muhammad), recite in the Book the account of Mary,13 when she withdrew from her people to a place towards the east;
*13 For comparison, see Al-i-Imran (III): 34-57, and An-Nina (IV) :156 and E.N.'s thereof.

(19:17) and drew a curtain, screening herself from people14 whereupon We sent to her Our spirit and he appeared to her as a well-shaped man.
*14 The Sanctuary where she had retired for devotion was an eastern chamber in the Temple, and as was customary she had hung a curtain to conceal herself from the people. It cannot be Nazareth as some people have wrongly taken it to be, because Nazareth is to the north of Jerusalem.

(19:18) Mary exclaimed: "I surely take refuge from you with the Most Compassionate Lord, if you are at all God-fearing."
(19:19) He said: "I am just a message-bearer of your Lord, I have come to grant you a most pure boy."
(19:20) Mary said: "How can a boy be born to me when no man has even touched me, nor have I ever been unchaste?"
(19:21) The angel said: "Thus shall it be. Your Lord says: 'It is easy for Me; and We shall do so in order to make him a Sign for mankind15 and a mercy from Us. This has been decreed.' "
*15 The word "So shall it be" are very significant as has been stated in E.N. 6. The plain meaning is this: "A pure son shall be born to you just as your Lord has decreed, even though no man has touched you. " The same was the response to prophet Zachariah as stated in v. 9 above. And it is a sheer perversion to interpret it as: "So shall it be that a man will touch you and a son will be born to you." For, if it were to mean: "You will bear a son like all other women of the world," the subsequent two sentences: "Your Lord says, 'This is an easy thing for Me to do, and We will make that boy a Sign for the people'," would have become meaningless: Had this birth been an ordinary birth like the birth of every other child, there would have been no occasion to boast: "It is an easy thing, and that it will be made a Sign (miracle). This will be so because the child will speak in the cradle."

(19:22) Then she conceived him and withdrew with him to a far-off place.16
*16 When she conceived the child, she left the Sanctuary and went to a distant place (Bethlehem) in order to escape the bitter criticism of the people. They would have said, "Look at the virgin daughter of the pious house of Aaron! She has conceived a child and that, too, in the Sanctuary where she had retired for devotion!" Thus she temporarily succeeded in concealing the shame of the conception, but this event itself is a proof that prophet Jesus was born without a father. Had Mary been married and had a husband, she would not have left his or her parents house by herself and chosen a distant place for the purpose of delivery.

(19:23) Then the birth pangs drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree and she said: "Oh, would that I had died before this and had been all forgotten."17
*17 The words "Would that..." show the extreme state of anxiety in which Mary found herself at the time. She did not utter these words on account of the labor pains but due to the pangs of sorrow as to how she would conceal the child from her people. The angel's words---"Grieve not at all"explain why she had spoken these desperate words. When a married girl is delivering her first baby, she might be dying with pains, but she is never so sorrowful and grieved.

(19:24) Thereupon the angel below her cried out: "Grieve not, for your Lord has caused a stream of water to flow beneath you.
(19:25) Shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards yourself and fresh and ripe dates shall fall upon you.
(19:26) So eat and drink and cool your eyes; and if you see any person say to him: 'Verily I have vowed a fast to the Most Compassionate Lord, and so I shall not speak to anyone today.' "18
*18 That is, "You need not say anything with regard to the child. It is now Our responsibility to answer the critics." This also indicates why Mary was so sad and grieved. Had she been married and given birth to her first baby like any other mother, there was no occasion to tell her to observe "a fast of silence", though it was a common custom among the Jews."

(19:27) Then she came to her people, carrying her baby. They said: "O Mary! You have committed a monstrous thing.
(19:28) O sister of Aaron!19 Your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman."
*19 "Sister of Aaron" may either mean that Mary had a brother of the name of Aaron, or it may mean that she belonged to the family of Prophet Aaron. The first meaning is supported by a tradition of the Holy Prophet and the second is plausible because that is supported by the Arabic idiom. But we are inclined to the second meaning, for the wording of the said tradition does not necessarily mean that she actually had a brother named Aaron. The tradition as related in Muslim, Nasa'i, Tirmizi, etc. says that when the Christians of Najran criticized the Quranic version of stating Mary as the sister of Aaron before Hadrat Mughirah bin Shu`bah, he was not able to satisfy them, because Prophet Aaron had passed away centuries earlier. When he presented the problem before the Holy Prophet, he replied, "Why didn't you say that the Israelites named their children after their Prophets and other pious men?" That is, "You could have answered their objection like this as well." (See also E.N. 32 of Al-i-Imran).

(19:29) Thereupon Mary pointed to the child. They exclaimed: "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle, a mere child?"20
*19a How can the people who reject the miraculous birth of Prophet Jesus, explain why Mary's whole community had come out to curse and condemn her when she had appeared before them with the child?

(19:30) The child cried out: "Verily I am Allah's servant. He has granted me the Book and has made me a Prophet
(19:31) and has blessed me wherever I might be and has enjoined upon me Prayer and Zakah (purifying alms) as long as I live;
(19:32) and has made me dutiful to my mother.20a He has not made me oppressive, nor bereft of God's blessings.
(19:33) Peace be upon me the day I was born and the day I will die, and the day I will be raised up alive."21
*20 People who misinterpret the Qur'an translate this verse as: "How shall we talk with him, who is but a child of yesterday?".They attribute these words to the elderly people of the Jews, who said years later, when Jesus was a grown up boy, that they could not have any useful dialogue with a mere kid. But the person who keeps the whole context in view, will realize that this interpretation is absurd and has been given merely to avoid the miracle. As a matter of fact, the dialogue took place when the people were condemning Mary who being unmarried, had brought forth a child, and not when the child had grown up into manhood. V. 46 of AI-i-`Imran (III) and v. 110 of Al-Ma'idah (V) also support the view that Prophet Jesus had uttered these words as a baby in the cradle and not when grown up. In the first verse, the angel while giving the good news of a son to Mary, says: "He will speak to the people alike when in the cradle and when grown up"; in the other verse, Allah Himself says to Prophet Jesus: ".......you talked to the people even in the cradle as you talked when you were grown up."

(19:34) This is Jesus, the son of Mary; and this is the truth about him concerning which they are in doubt.
(19:35) It does not befit Allah to take for Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a thing He only says: "Be" and it is.22
*20a The words used are: "......dutiful to my mother", and not."dutiful to my parents" . This is another proof of the fact that Jesus had no father, and for the same reason he has been called `Jesus son of Mary' everywhere in the Qur'an.

(19:36) (Jesus had said): "Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so serve Him alone. This is the Straight Way."23
*21 This speech in the cradle by Jesus was the `Sign' to which the angel referred in v. 21. As Allah intended to punish the children of Israel for their continuous wicked ways and evil deeds, He made a pious virgin girl of the family of Prophet Aaron, who had devoted herself to worship in the Temple under the patronage of Zachariah, bear a child and bring it before her people in order to concentrate the whole attention of the thousands of people assembled there on this extraordinary event. Then He made this new born child speak out even in the cradle that he had been appointed a Prophet. Though they had seen this wonderful Sign of Allah, they rejected the Prophethood of Jesus and brought him to the court for crucifixion, and thus incurred the wrath of Allah. (For further details, please see Al-i-Imran (III): E.N.'s 44 and 53, and An-Nina (IV): E.N.'s 212,213).

(19:37) But different parties began to dispute with one another.24 A dreadful woe awaits on that great Day for those that reject the Truth.
*22 In vv.1-35, it has been shown that the "Doctrine of the son of God" in regard to Prophet Jesus is absolutely wrong. For just as the miraculous birth of Prophet John did not make him the `son of God', so the miraculous birth of Prophet Jesus could not make him the son of God. For the births of both were the result of the same sort of miracle as they have been mentioned together in the same context in the Gospel of Luke. Therefore, it is mere distortion that the Christians should regard one as the servant of God and the other as the son of God.

(19:38) How well shall they hear and how well shall they see on the Day they come to Us! But today the evil-doers are in manifest error.
(19:39) (O Muhammad), warn those who are steeped in heedlessness and are obstinately rejecting the truth that the Day shall come when things will be finally decided and they shall be left with utter remorse.
(19:40) Ultimately, We shall inherit the earth and whatever is on it; to Us shall they be returned.25
*23 This declaration by Jesus has been cited to tell the Christians that Jesus also taught the same Doctrine of Tauhid as was taught by all other Prophets. And it was they who had invented the doctrine of shirk by making him the son of God. (Please also refer to Al-i-`Imran (III): E.N. 68, and Al-Ma'idah (V): E.N.'s 100, 101 and 130).
English ◄ Chapter 19. Maryam ► Intro. ◄ Verse 16-40 of 98 ► View Ar En Nt Recite Font Email